ETF Evaluator: Nuveen Preferred and Income ETF () Follow This ETF

Nuveen Preferred and Income ETF Overview

Nuveen Preferred and Income ETF (NPFI) is an actively managed Taxable Bond Preferred Stock exchange-traded fund (ETF). Nuveen launched the ETF in 2024.

The investment seeks to provide a high level of current income and total return. The fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) that seeks to pursue its investment objective by investing, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of the sum of its net assets and the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes in preferred securities and other income producing securities.

About Nuveen Preferred and Income ETF (NPFI)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 2.41 years: Douglas Baker (2024) and Brenda Langenfeld (2024). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

Nuveen Preferred and Income ETF has 162 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 14.7% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Nuveen Preferred and Income ETF is part of the Hybrid Securities global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond ETF group. Nuveen Preferred and Income ETF has 47.9% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.0% There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 38.2% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 59.8% (12.0% domestic bond, 47.9% foreign bond and 1.9% convertible bond). Nuveen Preferred and Income ETF has 0.0% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $174 million in total assets, which is below the $1 billion average for the Preferred Stock category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

NPFI Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Nuveen Preferred and Income ETF expense ratio is average compared to funds in the Preferred Stock category. Nuveen Preferred and Income ETF has an expense ratio of 0.56%, which is 4% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a D. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Nuveen Preferred and Income ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 28%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 38% for the Preferred Stock category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Nuveen Preferred and Income ETF returned -0.4%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Preferred Stock category had an average return of -0.0%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.

Nuveen Preferred and Income ETF has a trailing yield of 6.46%, which is above the 6.18% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Nuveen Preferred and Income ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 1.8%, 0.5 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 5.6% over the past year (grade of B).

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